--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To one degree or another, everybody is…" description: "\"To one degree or another, everybody is connected to the Mystery, and everybody secretly yearns to expand the connection. That requires expanding the so..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/tom-robbins-169_bitterness_to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-co_3162057.jpg" --- # To one degree or another, everybody is connected to the… ![“To one degree or another, everybody is connected to the Mystery, and everybody secretly yearns to expand the connection. That requires expanding the soul. These things can enlarge the soul: laughter, danger, imagination, meditation, wild nature, passion, compassion, psychedelics, beauty…” quote by Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/tom-robbins-169_bitterness_to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-co_3162057.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/tom-robbins-169_bitterness_to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-co_3162057.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/tom-robbins-169_bitterness_to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-co_3162057.jpg) > “To one degree or another, everybody is connected to the Mystery, and everybody secretly yearns to expand the connection. That requires expanding the soul. These things can enlarge the soul: laughter, danger, imagination, meditation, wild nature, passion, compassion, psychedelics, beauty, iconoclasm, and driving around in the rain with the top down. These things can diminish it: fear, bitterness, blandness, trendiness, egotism, violence, corruption, ignorance, grasping, shining, and eating ketchup on cottage cheese.” [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes how various experiences can expand or shrink the soul, urging openness to both joy and danger. **In simple terms:** Experiences can grow or shrink the soul; seek expansion. Key Takeaway Cultivate experiences that enlarge your soul. Themes spirituality growth experience Mood inspirational philosophical Type reflective thought‑provoking When to use this quote - travel - creative pursuits - meditation - nature immersion Key Concepts expansion contraction mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - Which activities have most expanded your soul? - How do you guard against soul‑shrinking influences? A Different Perspective Some listed items may be culturally specific or controversial. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bitterness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterness/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connections/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Cottages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cottages/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Driving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driving/) [Eating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eating/) [Egotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egotism/) [Iconoclasm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iconoclasm/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Laughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughter/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [Don't be limited in your views with regard to your neighbor's virtue...You must enlarge your soul towards each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-be-limited-in-your-views-with-regard-to-your-neighbor-s-virtue/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the great subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/nothing-will-so-enlarge-the-intellect-nothing-so-magnify-the-whole/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer-2/the-most-excellent-study-for-expanding-the-soul-is-the-science-of/) [J.I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer-2/) > [“He was there alone with himself, collected, tranquil, adoring, comparing the serenity of his heart with the serenity of the skies, moved in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-was-there-alone-with-himself-collected-tranquil-adoring-comparing/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is wine for the soul - laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness - the hilarious declaration made by man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/laughter-is-wine-for-the-soul-laughter-soft-or-loud-and-deep-tinged/) [Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/) > [What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/what-soap-is-to-the-body-laughter-is-to-the-soul-laughter-is-the/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) > [There is a kind of laughter that sickens the soul. Laughter when it is out of control: when it screams and stamps its feet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/there-is-a-kind-of-laughter-that-sickens-the-soul-laughter-when-it-is/) [Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/) > [“I don't know which is more telling about a soul, their laughter or their tears. I suspect the latter, but hope for the former,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-don-t-know-which-is-more-telling-about-a-soul-their-laughter-or/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [Being a member of my group Dru Hill, we're basically known for soul things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sisqo/being-a-member-of-my-group-dru-hill-we-re-basically-known-for-soul/) [Sisqo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sisqo/) > [I'm interested in the history of the soul: the everyday life of the soul, the things that the big picture of history usually omits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/i-m-interested-in-the-history-of-the-soul-the-everyday-life-of-the/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [To slow down is to be taken into the soul of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/to-slow-down-is-to-be-taken-into-the-soul-of-things/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [Study, therefore, to withdraw the love of your soul from all things that are visible, and turn it to things that are invisible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/study-therefore-to-withdraw-the-love-of-your-soul-from-all-things/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [Let us treasure up in our soul some of those things which are permanent..., not of those which will forsake us and be destroyed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-of-nazianzus/let-us-treasure-up-in-our-soul-some-of-those-things-which-are/) [Gregory of Nazianzus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-of-nazianzus/) > [We are all visionaries, and what we see is our soul in things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-all-visionaries-and-what-we-see-is-our-soul-in-things/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Suddenly I found you and the spirit in me sings, Don't have to look no further, You're the soul of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/suddenly-i-found-you-and-the-spirit-in-me-sings-don-t-have-to-look-no/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More by Tom Robbins > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/anyone-who-maintains-absolute-standards-of-good-and-evil-is-dangerous/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred. Ha Ha Ho Ho Hee Hee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/i-believe-in-everything-nothing-is-sacred-i-believe-in-nothing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [A sense of humor...is superior to any religion so far devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/a-sense-of-humor-is-superior-to-any-religion-so-far-devised/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the-2/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“The glue that holds the natural world together appears to be a harmonious balance of opposites: day and night, light and dark, winter and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-glue-that-holds-the-natural-world-together-appears-to-be-a/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Zippers are primal and modern at the very same time. On the one hand, your zipper is primitive and reptilian, on the other, mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/zippers-are-primal-and-modern-at-the-very-same-time-on-the-one-hand/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“religion is a paramount contributor to human misery. It is not merely the opium of the masses, it is the cyanide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/religion-is-a-paramount-contributor-to-human-misery-it-is-not-merely/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [She continued weeping until the heat of her tear water, the sheer velocity of its flow, finally obscured the already vague circumstances of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/she-continued-weeping-until-the-heat-of-her-tear-water-the-sheer/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-bottom-line-is-that-a-people-are-never-perfect-but-love-can-be-b/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Virtually every advancement made by our species since civilization first peeked out of its nest of stone has been initiated by lone individuals, mavericks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/virtually-every-advancement-made-by-our-species-since-civilization/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [When we accept small wonders, we qualify ourselves to imagine great wonders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/when-we-accept-small-wonders-we-qualify-ourselves-to-imagine-great/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Explore all 994 Tom Robbins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More Bitterness quotes > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If Japanese tea 'stands,' it acquires a coarse bitterness and an unwholesome astringency. Milk and sugar are not used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-bird/if-japanese-tea-stands-it-acquires-a-coarse-bitterness-and-an/) [Isabella Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-bird/) > [Stronger than alcohol, vaster than poetry, Ferment the freckled red bitterness of love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/stronger-than-alcohol-vaster-than-poetry-ferment-the-freckled-red/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“What?" I ask. I try not to get snappy with her. She hasn't really done anything wrong. Falling in love with Turner isn't a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/what-i-ask-i-try-not-to-get-snappy-with-her-she-hasn-t-really-done/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [“The fairest things have fleetest end, Their scent survives their close: But the rose’s scent is bitterness To him that loved the rose. —Francis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-rule/the-fairest-things-have-fleetest-end-their-scent-survives-their-close/) [Ann Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-rule/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“No," I say. "I didn't know that," and as I say it I feel flooded with bitterness at all the things Ingrid kept secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/no-i-say-i-didn-t-know-that-and-as-i-say-it-i-feel-flooded-with/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [Forgiving someone who've done you wrong or didn't treat you right could mean that you are allowing yourself to end up away from bitterness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-t-pascua/forgiving-someone-who-ve-done-you-wrong-or-didn-t-treat-you-right/) [April T Pascua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-t-pascua/) > [You cannot be inspired if you are surrounded with negativity, open the door and step into the inspirational garden of nature. Do not let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/you-cannot-be-inspired-if-you-are-surrounded-with-negativity-open-the/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-horne/it-s-not-the-load-that-breaks-you-down-it-s-the-way-you-carry-it/) [Lena Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-horne/) > [Not forgiving prolongs hurt and anger and leads to smoldering resentment, which will make us miserable until it kills us. Resentment destroys the perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-walters/not-forgiving-prolongs-hurt-and-anger-and-leads-to-smoldering/) Richard Walters > [Let us not give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/let-us-not-give-in-to-pessimism-to-that-bitterness-that-the-devil/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves how bitterness tastes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rin-chupeco/sometimes-it-is-good-to-remind-ourselves-how-bitterness-tastes/) [Rin Chupeco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rin-chupeco/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [Be sure there is something waiting for you after much patience, to astonish you to a degree, that you forget the bitterness of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/be-sure-there-is-something-waiting-for-you-after-much-patience-to/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) [Browse all 1,210 Bitterness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To one degree or another, everybody is connected to the Mystery, and everybody secretly yearns to expand the connection. That requires expanding the soul. These things can enlarge the soul: laughter, danger, imagination, meditation, wild nature, passion, compassion, psychedelics, beauty, iconoclasm, and driving around in the rain with the top down. These things can diminish it: fear, bitterness, blandness, trendiness, egotism, violence, corruption, ignorance, grasping, shining, and eating ketchup on cottage cheese.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Robbins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-connected-to-the-mystery-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bitterness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-connected-to-the-mystery-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/tom-robbins-169_bitterness_to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-co_3162057.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/tom-robbins-169_bitterness_to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-co_3162057.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/tom-robbins-169_bitterness_to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-co_3162057.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To one degree or another, everybody is connected to the Mystery, and everybody secretly yearns to expand the…” — Tom Robbins", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Robbins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To one degree or another, everybody...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-connected-to-the-mystery-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/to-one-degree-or-another-everybody-is-connected-to-the-mystery-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```